New poll: Financial security is top concern in mid-Hudson

Keeping our jobs and creating new ones that allow us to live here are the issues that matter most, according to a new survey of 4,443 mid-Hudson residents: "Many Voices One Valley 2012."

Nearly half of those surveyed fear that someone in their household will lose a job in the coming year. And if that happens, they're afraid they won't find a similar job, because nearly nine out of 10 people say good jobs are hard to find in this region, according to the survey of seven mid-Hudson counties including Orange, Ulster and Sullivan. The survey has been conducted every five years since 2002 by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion and funded by the Dyson Foundation.

"Clearly, we're not recession-proof," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist institute. "These are real people talking about their concerns."

About a third of households have had trouble paying for fuel, food, housing, utilities and medical treatment in the past year. That's up from 24 percent in 2007. Pay cuts sustained by more than a quarter of respondents since the recession began in 2007 likely contributed to the increase.

Affordable health care, the top issue in the "Many Voices One Valley" survey of 2007, has been replaced by job retention as the top issue this year in all seven counties.

"You won't be able to attract businesses if the taxes are too high," said Terri Ward, president of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. "And you can afford to give your employees health care when taxes are lower in places like Pennsylvania."

Nearly a third of survey respondents plan to leave the mid-Hudson within five years, and nearly eight of 10 of those plan to leave the state, mostly for economic reasons.

Nowhere in the region, stretching from Putnam to Columbia counties, are people more worried they're on shaky economic ground than in Sullivan County. Sixty percent of Sullivan residents say the quality of jobs there is poor, compared to 41 percent in Ulster and 31 percent in Orange.
They also feel underserved by health-care providers, and 31 percent of those surveyed said either they or someone in their household lacked medical insurance in the past year. That was the highest number in the region.
Expanding the skills of workers and improving the ones they already have is key to addressing job-related concerns, said Sari Rosenheck, director of admissions at SUNY Sullivan.
"Whatever ails the community," she said, "education is the answer."
The state and localities could also spur economic growth if they streamlined planning regulations, said Russell Turner, a Sullivan County building supplies salesman.
"I've seen the loss of a lot of contractors," Turner said. "The county has to seriously think about economic growth. We have a mass exodus going on in this state."

Worries about homelessness have increased in apparent tandem with concerns over job security and the ability to pay routine bills.

'Reducing homelessness' is one of only three priorities (the others are 'Keeping businesses in the area' and 'Creating more jobs') to receive a higher average score in this year's survey than it did five years ago.

About 5,000 people in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties are considered homeless, according to local officials.

"It's staggering to think the problem is right here," says Sandy Brown, who lives just outside Roscoe and helps a homeless couple who lived in the woods of Sullivan. "I mean, we support people in Africa, but the need is so great here."